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I Fucking Hate this Video

And, I don’t hate it because of what it shows about humanity or some such bullshit like that.

I hate this video, and all other similar videos/essays/etc. which “bring awareness” to a problem without any proposed solution, or even an in depth understanding of what the problem actually is. I hate videos which use musical scores to “go for the onion,” as my dad would say. (Going for the onion means using some gimmick as a means to generate an artificial emotional response, similar to how cutting onions makes you cry in a situation where you wouldn’t normally feel sad.) And, I fucking HATE videos which lead me to feeling guilty and sad, but any expression of this in liberal culture would lead to some smug, white, liberal dmfb telling me to “sit” with my emotions. My Zen instructors and my therapist are allowed to tell me to sit with my emotions, everyone else can go get lost.

So, here’s the big question which was not addressed in this video. Why didn’t those people stop? That’s the problem that needs fixing.

I know why those people didn’t stop, because I am often one of those people. I have walked by homeless people who have fallen down, people on the ground coughing and in pain, and not stopped to help. Why did I do this?

Backing up a few years, I moved to downtown San Francisco which is basically homeless person capital of the USA. I knew I would be living in very close proximity to a large number of homeless people – I am on the same block as multiple temporary housing establishments for people who don’t have permanent residences. When I moved in, I don’t know exactly what I expected to see, but that somehow the naturally open and generous nature of my spirit would cary me through my interactions.

What I actually saw was fear.

I used to talk to homeless people more. I remember reading once that one of the most painful things about being homeless was that people just ignored you, so I always made it a point to look one of them in the eyes and say “I’m sorry, not today,” if I didn’t have any money to give them. Soon, I started specifically *not* carrying money because I would give it all away too quickly, and often tried to avoid eye contact. And, soon after that, I started wearing headphones and sunglasses so they wouldn’t know I was ignoring them. I started resenting them for their demands on my attention, and I started dehumanizing them in my mind by seeing obstacles not people.

When I walk by a homeless person on the ground, I look for blood. But, I try not to look too long because often they are just sleeping, and some of them don’t like to be stared at. Once, when I was looking at a sleeping man, a friend of his started bitching me out for being a judgmental white woman. “Bitch, thinks it couldn’t happen to her, who’s she to judge?”

Once, a friend and I actually saw blood. We stood there talking about what to do, should we call an ambulance? He almost definitely didn’t have insurance, and we weren’t sure what would become of him in the hospital. In the end, we did call the ambulance, and they took him away – but, we were uneasy about it. We weren’t sure we’d done the right thing. If I’d been fairly sure he would have survived without the ambulance, I wouldn’t have called it.

I’ve also seen many homeless people passed out, drugged out, who have ended up being ok. About one night a week, the entrance to my building shelters a passed out person, smoking up god knows what. I will literally step over unconscious bodies to get inside. Sometimes, the person apologizes in a half-awake way and I’ll say “Don’t worry about it.” They’re always gone by morning, and there’s never been a fuss, so I assume none of them have actually died. I’m not quite sure what happens when a homeless person dies, but I imagine it takes some amount of effort to remove them – enough, that I’d notice if it was happening regularly outside my building.

I have *never* seen a businessman pass out in the street. Not once, not even a drunk one.

Additionally, often when I *do* stop to talk to homeless people, I don’t know any reasonable action to take. I have tried to buy food for people who were unable to articulate what type of food they wanted. I have talked to people, who wanted to keep hugging me over and over – to the point that I felt uncomfortable. Sometimes, when I try to be friendly, I am met with sexually aggressive behavior. I rarely stop for young, male homeless men unless they immediately demonstrate a strong understanding of boundaries (demonstrated with phrases like “Excuse me, miss,” or “Do you have a minute?”) These polite, young men are not usually the ones passed out. It’s usually the ones muttering nonsense, often with some substance. The type of people who remind me of the man who punched my friend, the type of people who I’m worried might try to punch me.

So, to summarize, why don’t I stop for trampy looking people? Because, I see them in pain all the time, but I have never seen one die. Because I don’t know what to do – who to call? The police, the hospital? Because I am afraid for myself, for my own boundaries, my own sexuality, and my own safety.

What are actual steps we could take to fix this?

– Have a resource in mind to call when worried about someone’s safety. (Actually, I’m going to contact my Zen instructor and ask if she has any ideas about this one because she works with homeless people.)

– If you are with a group, make more of an effort to stop, because people may be too afraid if they are alone.

That’s all I got. Like I said, I said, I don’t know how to solve this, and I struggle with it *every day* and this video gave me absolutely *no tools* to help.

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One thought on “I Fucking Hate this Video”

It says the user has removed the video, but I watched what sounds to be similar–the one of a guy falling down in the street wearing rags or a suit.

It’s interesting to me that I don’t have the same type of visceral reaction as you do, and I’m trying to sort out why. First, I think there is a place for different kinds of styles of “reporting”; in this case, one that creates a scenario and puts music on behind it for emotional effect. At the very least, the effect was that it got you thinking about the issue and publicly sharing your thoughtful opinions on it. “Why did this happen?”, “How does this relate to me?” and then, “What can I/we do?” I think that sometimes simply shining a light on an issue and creating the connection for people is quite valuable. Some individuals and their ideal presentation formats are more effective at solving one kind of problem versus another.

Secondly, I think about the intent of the person who spent the time to create the video. It’s possible that the reason was to manipulate people for page-views, where the overall effect is zero (with self-righteous liberals, cynics, and apologists using the issue for points at dinner parties). I don’t think that’s the whole story though. You’ve already been inspired to act, and whether you intended it or not, you shared the video and are possibly inspiring others to act or further study the problem. Once that ball gets rolling, don’t you think the person accomplished what they set out to do?

Lastly, I don’t feel guilty about the issue of homelessness. I don’t feel it’s my responsibility to solve that problem. I’ve struggled with focus my whole life, and have shrunk away from a tendency to accept responsibility for everyone and everything in order to have a more centered life. The logic is, if you can’t take care of yourself effectively, then you won’t be able to take care of others effectively. I used to feel contempt for people who asked things of me because I always felt compelled to accept responsibility for whatever it was. I either put other people ahead of myself to my detriment, or I would hate myself (shame) for refusing to act on behalf of other people. The realization was that I can’t solve every problem simultaneously. I’m not omnipotent. Even though there are a million ways to solve various problems, my ability to exert effort towards those goals in a meaningful way is limited. Unless I have my own life in order, I won’t be able to feel capable to make effective change. Eventually I began to be able to effectively prioritize and have confidence in my decisions (it’s always a work in progress though).

There are a limitless number of problems out there for you to solve, but none of which are your responsibility alone. As is often the problem, finding ways to make the change you want and live the personal life you want to lead is difficult. It can be done–there are plenty of approaches to having impact and I’m sure you are capable of coming up with creative solutions. It’s just a matter of what is most important to you in your life, and what kind of risk you’re comfortable with. My visualization is that you start at the center, and radiate out to touch the things that matter to you. I wish you the best of luck!